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A7
news
Wednesday, June 17, 2015 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
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YVONNE BABOOLAL
Nasty election cam-
paigns are nothing new
and this political culture
was started since 1956
under the People s
National Movement
(PNM).
So said Communica-
tions Minister Vasant
Bharath in response to
predictions from Regi-
nald Dumas of Resett
1962 that this 2015 gen-
eral election will be one
of the nastiest ever.
Bharath said the polit-
ical culture of attacking
rivals during election
campaigns began with
the Eric Williams-led
PNM in 1956.
It s nothing new,
Bharath said, recalling
that in 1958, Williams,
the founder of the PNM,
said East Indians were a
hostile and recalcitrant
minority.
"It has gotten progres-
sively worse and I do
believe there will be a lot
of remarks hurled from
either side," Bharath said.
Bharath said during
election campaigns peo-
ple tended to behave
below what was normal-
ly deemed acceptable
behaviour.
He recalled that in
1966, the infamous
Poolool brothers
attempted to assassinate
his own father, Dr John
Bharath, who was a
Democratic Labour Party
candidate for the St
Augustine seat.
His political rival was
Bhadase Sagan Maharaj,
who was contesting the
seat for the People s
Democratic Party.
Bharath said his
father s life was spared
but his uncle who was
driving his car was shot
in the arm.
Political analysts and
political party leaders
polled by the Guardian
also agreed with Dumas
that the election would
be nasty.
However, the reasons
for the nastiness differed.
The sharp ethnic
polarisation of T&T soci-
ety and desperation for
political power would be
a major cause, some said.
Others, like the PNM
and Movement for Social
Justice (MSJ) blamed it
on the desperation of the
People s Partnership to
return to government.
Independent Liberal
Party leader Jack Warner
said he was not prepared
to comment on the issue
at this time.
Political analyst
Mukesh Basdeo said
Dumas felt the 2015 gen-
eral election would turn
out to be the nastiest
because of the type of
mudslinging that had
already occurred.
He said: "To say it will
be the nastiest, we only
have to wait."
He added, "It will only
be nasty if the other side
responds."
YVONNE WEBB
In February former national
footballer Brent Sancho replaced
Dr Rupert Griffith as sport min-
ister.
Now Sancho s supporters are
urging Prime Minister Kamla
Persad-Bissessar to also have him
replace Griffith as the candidate
to contest the Toco/Sangre
Grande seat in the September 7
general election.
Outside the Rienzi Complex
headquarters of the United
National Congress (UNC), Couva,
on Monday night, a throng of
Sancho supporters lifted him in
the air, shouting at the top of
their voices, "We want Sancho,
we want Sancho. Give we, San-
cho, give we Sancho."
The men and women dressed
in grey T-Shirts with the words
Delivery beats ole talk anyday
on the front and "Sancho, we
deliver, we deliver on the back,
kept up a lively chant as Sancho
mingled inside the building with
the PM and other cabinet col-
leagues after the Monday Night
Forum at the party headquarters.
As he emerged from the build-
ing around 11 pm, the group
surged forward and two men lift-
ed him in the air, in sportsman-
like fashion, carrying him for a
short distance.
"We love him. We love him,"
a jubilant woman shouted iden-
tifying herself as a Toco/Sangre
Grande constituent. She let out
a resounding, "Nooooo," when
asked about Griffith returning as
their candidate.
"We don t want Griffith (the
incumbent). We had him for five
years and he do nothing. This
man (Sancho) now come and in
a couple of months this man
doing a good job. So we done
know what going to happen in
five years to come," one of the
men holding him up in the air
said.
"Brent is the man. Brent is the
man," another shouted.
In response, Sancho, who rep-
resented T&T at the 2006 World
Cup in Germany, would only say,
"This is the voice of the people."
Asked if he had filed nomina-
tion papers to contest the seat
for the UNC, Sancho replied,
"That will be disclosed soon."
Last month, Griffith s former
chauffeur, David John, collected
a nomination form and indicated
his intention to wrest the seat
from his former boss on a UNC
ticket.
At that point Griffith told the
media all seats were opened and
he had no problem with anyone
contesting the seat as it was their
democratic right so to do.
Although a political newbie,
Sancho has been featured promi-
nently as one of the UNC plat-
form speakers. He was on the
platform on Monday night as the
party kicked off its campaign,
telling the audience about plans
for sports should the Government
get the opportunity to serve a
second term.
He said the PP was the only
Government that treated sports
with respect.
(See Page A11 and A13)
'Nasty elections
began with PNM'
Some blame racial polarisation
Supporters of Sport Minister Brent Sancho, centre, urged Prime
Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to appoint him as the next
representative for Toco/Sangre Grande, at Rienzi Complex, Couva, on
Monday. PHOTO: RISHI RAGOONATH
Supporters call on PM
Sancho for
Toco seat
The PNM never runs
a nasty election cam-
paign and they have
been in the business for
60 years, said PNM
PRO Faris al Rawi. He
said the party has
focused on working in
the constituencies and
dealing with national
issues.
Reminded that Hilton
Sandy of the Tobago
PNM Council made
racist remarks during
the January 2013 Tobago
House of Assembly
elections campaign
when he said there was
a boat coming from
Calcutta to invade
Tobago, Al Rawi said,
"We are talking about
the general election
campaign."
He then turned the
spotlight on Rodney
Charles, the UNC s
campaign manager and
strategist, who he said
made derogatory state-
ments about him by
poking fun at his ances-
try. Al Rawi has said he
is a descendant of the
Prophet Muhammed.
And what about
attacks on PP members
made by Rowley and
others? "We are very
good at humour and
some political picong,"
Al Rawi replied.
Campaign manager
for the Alliance of Inde-
pendents (AOI), Gary
Griffith, said the election
could get very nasty and
the venom and hatred
would only further
divide the country.
Movement for Social
Justice (MSJ) leader
David Abdulah said it
was certainly shaping
uptobeoneofthenas-
tiest elections ever,
adding the society was
already deeply racially
polarised.
"The Government
will do all it can to hold
on to office," he said.